Wake Up Palestine – The PA Fiscal Crisis
Some officials have called 2021 the worst economic the PA has faced since its creation
Jerusalem24 – Earlier this month, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye warned that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is facing a financial crisis that would prevent it from fulfilling its obligations.
He made the remarks at the start of an emergency meeting of the PA’s cabinet held in the West Bank city of Ramallah to discuss the months-long financial crisis.
The PA has received less than 10 percent of what it used to receive in its coffers. The Arab states which had pledged to provide financial aid haven’t done so in the past two years. Another of the reasons is the Israeli deduction from tax revenues.
According to an economic protocol reached between the Palestinians and Israel in 1994, both agreed that the Israel side collects taxes from the Palestinian trade that passes through crossing points it controls and pays it back to the PA treasury.
However, two years ago, Israel began to deduct from tax revenues it pays every month to the PA.
In this episode of Wake Up Palestine, we speak with Nour Odeh, a former candidate in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections for the Democratic National Assembly and a political expert, to discuss the current fiscal crisis.
